Fier'Dracus
The Fier'Dracus was a gem of mysterious origin that was believed destroyed.
In 5106, new research in Tamzyrr spurred a new search for the gem. It led to an abandoned temple on Teras Isle. A leading scholar on the subject is a dark elf named Mavalgnus. Also involved in the search was Kyrska, a dwarf from Teras Isle who claimed to be associated with one of the oldest families on Teras. Purportedly, when shards of the gem were sung to by bards, they received the following response:
"I am the Fier'dracus, The Flame That Never Dies. Shattered I am for now, child of flesh, but dread the day when I am whole again, for you will burn for what you know."
Loresong Concerning Fier'Dracus
- a half-melted obsidian shard
- The obsidian shard appears to be a fist-sized chunk of rock, its normally razor sharp edges dulled into an almost wax-like, melted appearance. Tiny flecks of pure crimson have seemingly burned their way through the surface of the stone, forming a vague, flame-like pattern throughout the shard.
A slight warmth spreads across the obsidian shard as your song unfolds, and you find yourself gazing at its dark surface, transfixed by the warped patterns of light flickering across it. You find yourself lost in its black depths, until you claw your way back to some semblance of normality, and find that your vision is not your own...
The air is naught but fire, everything for miles and untold miles is an endless inferno, a world set ablaze, raging on and on until eternity itself ends. You move through this world, of which you are so undeniably connected to in every fashion, and blissfully give in to the burning rage, wavering with millions upon millions of your brethren, hearing their screams of joy as they consume and reform in the inferno. Time has no meaning, just the blaze and the roar of the heat as it reforms again and again...
The echo of the inferno resounds ceaselessly in your head until the vision comes to a close.
Your song once again thrusts you into the eyes of another, into the crimson flames of the endless inferno...
You feel yourself being pulled away from what is your entire world, your entire life and the meaning of your existence. Carelessly you float, knowing that you must flow to the whims of something greater... and find yourself in a place far, far different than you have ever known. Lava bubbles around you, and you turn your head to gaze up at an alien sky -- blue, dotted with puffs of white through the red haze of the volcano's rim. Crimson tendrils of magic creep along the far wall as others of your kin drift from the world of the inferno and into this place... a place whose *flow* you can feel, as well. You shift and crackle in the lava's embrace, and know that you must now flow with the currents of fire in this world...
The scent of sulphur lingers in your nose as the vision comes to an end.
And then your vision snaps back to the red haze of the volcano's interior, and you instinctively feel that quite a bit of time has passed since your last experience. You flow like quicksilver through the veins of lava, burning with the full fury of fire and causing the melted rock around you to bubble and hiss in acknowledgement of your presence. You feel connected to everything of the surrounding area, your eyes are everywhere that the heat of the volcano is, and you watch from the rim of the massive, rocky cone as the creatures of flesh come in droves, settling and tearing and despoiling the land for a reason unknown to you. It had been like this for only a short time -- they had arrived unnoticed, and then they were simply there, as if they had been all along. But something was not inherently right with them, in your view, they did not *flow* with the rest of the world, you could not glimpse their will as you could glimpse the will of the surroundings. They were different. They were something that should not be here, shaping the world to their liking rather than flow with it.
A sense of fury burns within you for an instant, but reality snaps back into view as the vision comes to a close.
You find yourself atop the rim of a smoking volcano, your eyes not your own, and your fury growing as you gaze across the island...
As you the flesh-beings, your fury grows to new heights, your flame burning higher and higher until you feel *everything* around you begin to burn with the same passionate resonance. You feel... connected, utterly connected, to the land and to everything around you, while the power that surges through you is immense and is so thoroughly reminiscent of the eternal inferno of where your existence began. You now know that the others of your kin will follow your lead, will heed your call when you give it, for you are the truest embodiment of flame upon this island. You are Avregol.
The brightness of your flame flares higher and higher, and the ground rumbles as your ascent to power is complete. The blinding light fades gradually to the light of reality as the vision draws to a close.
You feel yourself being drawn into the depths of the shard...
The robes of fire trail about your feet as you form back into a figure like that of the creatures of flesh. You find that it makes them more prone to stay away from the volcano. But your efforts have not gone well, there simply is not enough power here to drive them completely off the island, and they stay where fire's touch is not so absolute as the volcano. A tremor rocks the area, but you pay it no heed as the ceiling of obsidian cracks and crumbles as it has done so many times before.
Your eyes focus upon the small shard before everything blurs, and you find yourself in reality once again.
As your vision is overtaken by the memories of the shard, you find yourself staring at a faceted jewel...
A tendril of fire snakes out and caresses the small, crimson gem dislodged, and immediately a spark alights in its very core as it begins to grow in size. You reach toward the fiery gem, and feel the ancient power of its presence as it awakens again. Holding it high above your head, you realize that now the beings of flesh will be driven from your island, that everything in the island will be as ash upon the wind, fuel for the intense burning flame that you now hold in your hands. It whispers in the language of the elements and speaks its name to you, "Fier'Dracus -- The Flame That Never Dies." The air blurs as the intensity of your flame burns with unparalleled fury, causing the obsidian around you to melt away and drip down as if it were candle wax.
The vision fades away as you hear the flames roar ceaselessly in your head.
The Fier'Dracus - The End of the Terror
As you weave your melody, the fiery crimson shard's spire begins to pulse rapidly, flashing in a brilliant display of crimson color. You begin to match your song to the fiery flicker, and images begin to flash in your mind, each in synch to the pulsing of the fiery crimson shard in your hand. The tempo and volume of your song rise to a nearly hysterical pitch, then a loud *CRACKING* sound echoes in your mind, and you suddenly find yourself staring into what must be the very core of the world itself. Bubbling streams of magma spread out before you, twisting the air into a nauseating blur. Far off in the distance, the hazy form of a large crystal floats in mid-air, spinning slowly as tendrils of crimson energy burst from its surface to flow into the lava below, which roils and bubbles in response.
Without warning, a stream of crimson lava bursts up from beneath you, as if your eyes were not meant to gaze upon the scene they just witnessed.
Your vision is obscured, and you blink to find yourself once again in familiar surroundings.
Your song's magic wraps around the fiery crimson shard easily, but it seems to be trying to resist your attempts of unraveling the mystery around it. Regardless, your melody continues, matching the flickering luminescence of the shard.
Suddenly your vision is overwhelmed by a bright crimson glow. Just as it borders on the edge of blinding you, it begins to fade, revealing a scene which echoes with the indelible passage of time.
Great fires rage along the land, and the images flicker rapidly into different places and times. Only one thing remains constant - everything is set ablaze. Within the flames, what appear to be elementals writhe and dance within the crackling embrace of the raging infernos, their rasping voices screaming in vicious delight as they consume everything within sight.
The vision fades away, and a voice like hissing embers speaks in your mind, "I am the Fier'dracus, The Flame That Never Dies. Shattered I am for now, child of flesh, but dread the day when I am whole again, for you will burn for what you know."
With that, the voice fades away and you snap back into your surroundings.
You expertly weave the flows of mana around the fiery crimson shard, which begins to flicker in a familiar fashion. As your voice rises to a pitch where you think it might crack, you drop into a whispery melody like the soft hissing of dying embers.
Abruptly a scene unfolds before you of a great battlefield amongst the sea. Fires rage across an island of little more than igneous rock, and waves pound against the blackened wasteland. Creatures of the sea rise up from beneath the waves, and a living inferno of fire elementals and their kin wait for them. The sounds of war pound in your ears, and a cataclysmic battle between the elements rages before you. Suddenly your vision is dominated by the image of the Fier'dracus being tossed into the heart of a volcano by a large, lone lava golem. The hulking giant is soon nothing but a shell of rock as heavy rains pour down on it and extinguish its autonomous life.
The vision ends to the sound of waves crashing triumphantly upon the shore.
You begin to weave your song around the fiery crimson shard, the threads of essence connecting you to it glowing a bright crimson hue as your voice traverses through a range of melodic tones. Soon the hum of power from the fiery crimson shard fills your ears, and your surroundings begin to change as a vision takes over...
The Fier'dracus, whole again, slowly spins in front of you, and the scene pulls back to reveal a dark fiery-robed figure holding it high above its head. Wisps of crimson energy snake forth from the large gem to bathe the figure in power.
Abruptly, your surroundings change to that of a small mining colony upon a tropical island, the peak of a large volcano looming ominously in the distance. You stand amongst a crowd of people, each facing a watery figure that appears to be humanoid in shape. Though no sounds come from their mouths, it appears they're planning something.
You sing your final verse, and the fiery crimson shard surrenders its last memory, completely under the power of your melody.
Your vision shifts to that of an underground chamber filled with lava, the fiery scene dominated by the Fier'dracus, flickering as it hovers above a small ring of land within the middle of the lava. From a far embankment, a group of adventurers are gathered. Streams of magic burst from some of their hands, toward a wall of ice that collapses and forms a landbridge to the hovering gem. Soon after, a tiny wisp of flame rises up underneath the jewel, and appears to meld into it. The crystal pulses once and then goes dim. Immediately after, a large droplet of water flies through the air and completely covers the fiery relic's surface! Intense magical energies rage through the chamber as water and fire clash in a dramatic display, and without warning the Fier'dracus explodes into many fire-shrouded shards!
The vision ends, and the faintest impression of a deep rage rolls across your mind, emanating from the fiery crimson shard's depths.